Audiobook Review: The Night Circus

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

I have to admit that I actually had a hard time trying to come up with a rating for this book. It's not that I didn't like, there were just elements in it that I had some problems with. In particular I just could not stand how Celia and Marco were treated by their respective father figures.

Celia's father was such an asshat that I just wanted her to punch him in the face so hard. Of course you learn later why she cannot physical do that, but I was so angry with how hard he was on her about a competition that she had no choice to compete in! I feel similar about Marco's situation with Alexander. Macro was an orphan so he didn't have a family and the only person he had in his life was making him compete in this ridiculous task.

What I did like was all the descriptions of the Cirus and it's host of characters. With the audiobook I could hear the distinct character voices from Jim Dale so it really brought the story alive. This was a circus I would want to go to. Morgenstern's writing was really lovely here and I could really see what this place looked like, especially considering the victorian setting.

I think in the end I did end up enjoying this one a lot, and I would recommend it to any reader of fantasy...and romance in fantasy books. I would recommend it for the writing style alone.